Becca's+Page

// I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration; I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person humanized or de-humanized. If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming. //

// Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832) //

=Technology Assignment=

Speaking of technology, see [|an old favorite].

__Quizlet__
**What is it?** - interactive online flashcard software intended for memorizing new material **How can one integrate it into the curriculum?** **-** either teacher or students create flashcards for material which requires pure memorization - intended for solo use, either during classtime (when finished all other work) or at home **How can one incorporate it into a professional learning plan?** **-** old dogs can learn new tricks- memorize sefarim, m'lachot, vocabulary, etc **Tips and techniques?** - these types of resources are much more accessible when tailored to the specific classroom they supplement - I played around with others' flashcards until I got the hang of it and then created some on my own - I can see using this resource for helping students hammer in //factual //information, but I believe it is limited to that sphere - sets of flashcards can be grouped together for midterms and finals - http://quizlet.com/user/beccafarber/ (used here in the context of a Biblical grammar curriculum) **Why did I choose this resource? ** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">- In an age where constant over-stimulation is a necessary precursor for attention, the simple (albeit boring) task of memorization is unappealing. Souping up timeless tools like flashcards encourages continued use. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">- Students can also use this resource in other classes.

__Dipity__
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 10.7167px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-size: 10.7167px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What is it? ** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">- interactive online timeline software intended for organizing dates and places <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 10.7167px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-size: 10.7167px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How can one integrate it into the curriculum? ** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 10.7167px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-size: 10.7167px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- ** either teacher or students create timelines for material which requires chronological or geographical organization <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 10.7167px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-size: 10.7167px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How can one incorporate it into a professional learning plan? ** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">- collect scattered information in a clear, user-friendly format <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 10.7167px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-size: 10.7167px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Tips and techniques? ** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 10.7167px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- again, these types of resources are much more accessible when tailored to the specific classroom they supplement <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 10.7167px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- incredibly user-friendly, but difficult to navigate places which no longer exist (if intending to use this for ancient material) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 10.7167px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- again, I can see using this resource for helping students hammer in //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">factual //information, but I believe it is limited to that sphere <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 10.7167px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- the map function requires a specific city <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">- dates should be given in the singular instead of as a period of time <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">- most viewer-friendly in full screen <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- http://www.dipity.com/beccafarber/Major-Codes/#timeline (used here in the context of a Rabbinic methodology or development of halakha curriculum) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Full Screen: http://www.dipity.com/beccafarber/Major-Codes/?mode=fs <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 10.7167px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Why did I choose this resource? ** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">- Dipity engages the 21st century student in familiar environs (personally tailored, digital, interactive). <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">- It encourages students/teachers to weed out unimportant information from pre-fab maps and timelines.

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<span style="display: block; font-family: Tahoma; height: 1px; left: -10000px; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; text-align: left; top: 0px; width: 1px;">**From:** Becca Farber [mailto:becca.farber@gmail.com ]

=

 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #6a156a; font-family: serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Final Assignment: Social Media Smackdown **=====

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #6a156a; font-family: serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">One of my favorite school traditions happened every year on Lag BaOmer. Amongst other preparations, my friends and I would hastily collect all our unnecessary papers in the hours before the bonfire. After the fire was built, the marshmallows toasted, and the requisite songs sung, we’d open our backpacks and with gusto only cantankerous students can muster, gleefully toss our old papers into the blazing fire. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #6a156a; font-family: serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">If we had felt our various worksheets and notes would be relevant in the future, it would have been enough. If we had thought they might be useful to someone else, it would have been enough. If we had developed a sense of ownership over their existence, it would have been enough. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #6a156a; font-family: serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Unfortunately, we had no such relationship with our work. Not a bit. Together we christened our trajectory into finals with a delightful ejection of the burdensome dead weight. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #6a156a; font-family: serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Here’s where technology steps up to the plate. Interactive, self-created, digital classroom resources offer students the opportunity to take part in forming enduring reference guides that offer personalized support for their continued learning. Properly made, these guides can be timeless. Their edges will never fray, their words will never fade, and they can’t be easily tossed into Lag BaOmer bonfires. They can be used, edited, and updated time and time again. With a lifetime warranty like that, I believe students can be more easily encouraged to put a considerable amount of effort into making sophisticated, clear resources that will not only aid their own learning, but can be shared amongst their peers as well. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #6a156a; font-family: serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Two such resources are described above: Quizlet and Dipity. With these websites, respectively, students can create flashcard-style study guides and timeline-based reference tools that can be easily accessed and utilized long after their initial creation. The challenge lies in using these websites for //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">self-created //tools. In order to counter the trend of disposing of old study tools, students must be asked to 1) claim ownership over their work, 2) devise resources they feel are personally valuable, and 3) ensure they are flexible enough to adapt to their growing needs. By being asked to re-frame large amounts of information for personal reference, students internalize much of the material they are creating these resources to learn. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #6a156a; font-family: serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">But beyond memorizing facts, learning how to structure new information in original, user-friendly formats, and becoming familiar with content-transferable technological tools, students learn the one thing my friends and I didn’t discover: how to take pride in their work. <span style="display: block; font-family: Tahoma; height: 1px; left: -10000px; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; text-align: left; top: 0px; width: 1px;">**Sent:** Monday, March 07, 2011 10:05 AM <span style="display: block; font-family: Tahoma; height: 1px; left: -10000px; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; text-align: left; top: 0px; width: 1px;">**To:** caren@etheoreal.com**Subject:** Re: online discussio <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; height: 1px; left: -10000px; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; top: 448px; width: 1px;">- interactive online flashcard software intended for memorizing new material